Military Police Company suits up to save lives

Photo By Sgt. Thomas Belton | A soldier from the 293rd Military Police Company sprints across a contaminated area to escort civilians to a decontamination shower and medical treatment during exercise Vibrant Response '14 July 26. Timely responses are essential to aid civilians in an orderly and timely manner to prevent suffering and the spread of illness and contamination.
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MP’s set up decontamination lines with showers and radiation detectors to aid the local populace after Soldiers from TF83 clear irradiated structures. MP’s also serve as escorts to keep them safe, and establish checkpoints to triage incoming people. Role-players act as displaced civilians.

This kind of training is invaluable to soldiers who need to be able to react to any emergency situation, be it a chemical attack or natural disaster, said Sgt. Eugene Perez, acting platoon sergeant for 3rd Platoon.

“This training has a huge impact on our unit readiness,” said 2nd Lt. Jacob Garrison. “We’re more ready than we’ve ever been.”
TF83’s mission is to check all nearby structures for radiation and provide medical support to the MP’s triaging the steady flow of citizens.

Getting injured people to medical staff and trying to save their lives is an imperative part of the MP mission, said Perez.

In addition to moving injured people, being ready for an attack or natural disaster are all trained on during Vibrant Response. MP’s cordon an area and set up security checkpoints to help prevent further contamination from spreading.

U.S. Army North conducts VR ‘14 to train the nation’s military Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) response capability and ensure that units are interoperable and can act as national CBRN responders. Military units work in a support role with civilian agencies, such as FEMA and DHS to ensure a measured response.

“I don’t think training like this should ever go away,” said Garrison. “Especially when you’ve got multiple units coming in conjunction like this. This is invaluable training.”

Federal military forces may be employed if requested by a state. Given any kind of natural or man-made disaster, military forces work with civilian agencies to support the life-saving efforts of first responders.